Steinitz's Dublin blindfold display

As part of the 1865 Dublin Chess Congress a number of different events, separate from the three tournaments, were organized. These included simultaneous displays, telegraph matches, and Blindfold chess. Here is a contemporary report of the blindfold display by Steinitz.

"That excellent player, Herr Steinitz, twice exhibited his skill in blindfold Chess, playing on the first occasion three games at once against some of the strongest Dublin amateurs, and winning them all. At the second sitting he won four games out of five, and drew the fifth, to the great satisfaction of a numerous and brilliant assembly. The Lord Chancellor of Ireland was present, and expressed himself much interested in the performance. Should Herr Steinitz continue to practice this difficult branch of Chess, he would bid fair to rival the achievements of Paulsen or Morphy."

The Chess Player's Magazine, 1865 p. 342.

Below I present two of the games from the second display, culled from the pages of "Neue Berliner Schachzeitung" of 1866.

In the following game Steinitz takes on G.F. Barry.

Tim Harding gives an account of G.F. Barry's career here.